An interventional study of Virtual Reality-Based Hypnotherapy and Conventional Physiotherapy in Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI), Chronic Pain and Neuropathic Pain, sponsored by Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital. Recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
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Among 62 studies in Spinal Cord Injuries with a site in Turkey — 16 open to participants now, 18 under way, 1 of them phase 3. Spinal Cord Injuries · Turkey.
Among the 62 studies in Spinal Cord Injuries with a site in Turkey, this one is the 10th largest by planned enrollment of the 31 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 10 that started in 2026, is one of 29 with no phase, reaches primary completion later than 13 of the 17 other live ones, and was the 60th registered.
2,026 studies on the registry are indexed under Spinal Cord Injuries; 538 are open to participants now.
Browse Spinal Cord Injuries studies →16 of the 62 studies in Spinal Cord Injuries with a site in Turkey are open now. Recruiting first, the newest first:
Gaziler Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Education and Research Hospital · Sites in Turkey
Ages 18+
Nuh Naci Yazgan University · Sites in Turkey
Ages 18–55
Istanbul Medeniyet University · Sites in Turkey
Ages 16+
Ankara Etlik City Hospital · Sites in Turkey
Ages 18–65
Ankara City Hospital Bilkent · Sites in Turkey
Ages 18–65
A study can be open while its sites in Turkey have not opened yet or have stopped. Only those recruiting at a site in Turkey →
Of the 375 Spinal Cord Injuries studies recruiting now, 166 (44%) set no upper age limit and 158 (42%) stop at 75 or younger; 41 take children under 18; 52 take healthy volunteers.
This study: 18 Years to 65 Years · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.
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62 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.
First in 2002; this study’s year is marked. 10 started in 2026.
By drug class, each counting the studies that test any of its medicines:
This study's planned enrollment of 40 is above the median of 24 across 1,634 interventional studies indexed under Spinal Cord Injuries.
Median enrollment 34 across the 31 interventional studies, 50 across the 31 observational. Of the 43 that completed or were terminated, 0 (0%) have results posted.
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3 of 62 have an industry lead sponsor. The 10 most frequent:
Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital is the lead sponsor of 123 studies on the registry; 26 are open to participants now.
Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital has 7 studies filed under Spinal Cord Injuries — fewer than ten, so there is no comparison to draw.
4 of the studies in Spinal Cord Injuries with a site in Turkey that are under way reach primary completion within a year, 0 of them phase 3. Phase 3 first, then by date:
| Study | Primary completion |
|---|---|
| NCT07846410Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research HospitalVirtual Reality-Based Hypnotherapy for Pain, Sleep, and Mood in Spinal Cord Injury | 2026-11 |
| NCT07849062Nuh Naci Yazgan UniversityRobot-Assisted Intensive Physiotherapy in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury | 2027-02 |
| NCT07865338Gaziler Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Education and Research HospitalPatterns of Rehabilitation After Spinal Cord Injury | 2027-03-30 |
| NCT07293780Ankara Etlik City HospitalEffect of TMS on Neuropathic Pain for Patients With Spinal Cord Injury | 2027-05-01 |
Add all 4 to your calendar (.ics) → With an account.
Among the 62 studies in Spinal Cord Injuries with a site in Turkey, from their registry updates:
This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether virtual reality (VR)-based hypnotherapy, added to conventional physiotherapy, improves pain, sleep, mood, and quality of life in adults with chronic spinal cord injury.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Researchers will compare participants who receive VR-based hypnotherapy in addition to physiotherapy with participants who receive physiotherapy alone.
Participants will:
Background and Rationale Pain is one of the most common and disabling consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI) and negatively affects functional status, sleep, emotional well-being, and quality of life. Pharmacological treatments are often insufficient or limited by side effects, and there is a need for safe, non-invasive, non-pharmacological adjunct therapies. Virtual reality (VR) may reduce pain through attentional redirection and immersion, while hypnotherapy may modulate pain perception through relaxation and cognitive reprocessing of pain. VR-based hypnotherapy combines these mechanisms and has shown short-term benefits in chronic musculoskeletal pain; however, its effects in individuals with SCI have not been investigated in a randomized controlled trial.
Study Design This is a prospective, randomized controlled, parallel-group, single-center, single-blind trial. A total of 40 patients with SCI will be enrolled. Participants will be allocated to two groups by computer-generated randomization: (1) intervention group, receiving VR-based hypnotherapy in addition to conventional physiotherapy; (2) control group, receiving conventional physiotherapy alone.
Interventions Both groups will receive a standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program, 5 days per week for 2 weeks (10 sessions in total). Participants in the intervention group will additionally receive an approximately 20-minute VR-based hypnotherapy session following each physiotherapy session. Sessions will be delivered in a quiet clinical setting using a VR headset and headphones. The number of sessions completed and session duration will be recorded for each participant.
Baseline Data Sociodemographic characteristics, injury etiology and duration, comorbidities, complications, and current analgesic and antispastic medication use will be recorded. Neurological level and severity of injury will be classified according to the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale.
Blinding Outcome assessments will be performed by a trained assessor blinded to group allocation. Due to the nature of the intervention, participants and therapists cannot be blinded.
Assessment Time Points Assessments will be conducted at baseline (T0), at the end of the 2-week intervention (T1), and 2 weeks after the end of the intervention (T2).
Safety Adverse events, including VR-related symptoms such as dizziness or nausea, will be recorded throughout the intervention period.
Statistical Analysis Data will be analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics will be presented as mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage. Normality will be assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Between-group comparisons will be performed using the independent samples t-test or the Mann-Whitney U test, as appropriate. Changes over time will be analyzed using appropriate repeated-measures analyses. Statistical significance will be set at p\<0.05.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will receive a standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program 5 days per week for 2 weeks (10 sessions). In addition, following each physiotherapy session, they will receive an approximately 20-minute virtual reality (VR)-based hypnotherapy session delivered in a quiet clinical setting via a VR headset and headphones (10 VR sessions in total).
Behavioral: Virtual Reality-Based Hypnotherapy · Other: Conventional Physiotherapy
Participants will receive the same standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program 5 days per week for 2 weeks (10 sessions), without VR-based hypnotherapy.
Other: Conventional Physiotherapy
An immersive, audio-guided hypnotherapy session delivered through a virtual reality headset and headphones, combining visual immersion with hypnotic induction, relaxation, and pain-modulating suggestions. Each session lasts approximately 20 minutes and is administered immediately after the physiotherapy session, 5 days per week for 2 weeks (10 sessions in total), in a quiet clinical setting.
Also known as: VR Hypnosis, VR-Mediated Hypnotherapy
A standard physiotherapy and rehabilitation program for spinal cord injury, applied 5 days per week for 2 weeks (10 sessions in total), identical in both study arms.
Change in Pain Intensity (Numeric Rating Scale)
Pain intensity will be assessed using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst imaginable pain). Higher scores indicate greater pain intensity. The change from baseline to the end of the intervention will be compared between groups.
Time frame: Baseline and end of the 2-week intervention (week 2)
Pain Intensity at Follow-up (Numeric Rating Scale)
Pain intensity will be assessed using the NRS (0-10). Higher scores indicate greater pain intensity. The persistence of the effect will be evaluated at follow-up.
Time frame: Baseline and 2 weeks after the end of the intervention (week 4)
Neuropathic Pain (DN4 Questionnaire)
Neuropathic pain will be assessed using the Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire, with total scores ranging from 0 to 10. Higher scores indicate a greater likelihood and burden of neuropathic pain features.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2 (end of intervention), and week 4 (follow-up)
Sleep Quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index)
Sleep quality will be assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), with global scores ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate poorer sleep quality.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2 (end of intervention), and week 4 (follow-up)
Anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Anxiety Subscale)
Anxiety will be assessed using the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A), with scores ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate more severe anxiety symptoms.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2 (end of intervention), and week 4 (follow-up)
Depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Depression Subscale)
Depression will be assessed using the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D), with scores ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2 (end of intervention), and week 4 (follow-up)
Spasticity (Modified Ashworth Scale)
Spasticity will be assessed using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), graded as 0, 1, 1+, 2, 3, and 4. Higher grades indicate greater muscle tone.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2 (end of intervention), and week 4 (follow-up)
Health-Related Quality of Life (EQ-5D-5L)
Health-related quality of life will be assessed using the EQ-5D-5L, including the five-dimension index score and the EQ Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-VAS, 0-100). Higher index and EQ-VAS scores indicate better health status.
Time frame: Baseline, week 2 (end of intervention), and week 4 (follow-up)
System Usability (System Usability Scale)
Usability of the VR-based hypnotherapy system will be assessed in the intervention group only using the System Usability Scale (SUS), with scores ranging from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate better usability.
Time frame: End of the 2-week intervention (week 2)
Plan to share: Yes — De-identified individual participant data underlying the results reported in the publication will be shared upon reasonable request to the principal investigator.
Supporting information: Study protocol
Time frame: Beginning 6 months after publication of the main results and ending 5 years after publication.
Access criteria: Data will be shared with qualified researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal, following approval by the principal investigator and a signed data use agreement.
Started Oct 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Nov 2026, 1 month after the start.
Of 790 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Spinal Cord Injuries, half reached primary completion within 37 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 18 and three quarters within 65. This study's planned 1 month is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 839 studies reached it within 36 months; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 64.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Istanbul Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital →